Chris “The Crippler” Leben sued the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF) in San Diego Superior Court on Monday alleging the promotion failed to pay $90,000 of his purported $100,000 contractual purse for his main event appearance against Phil Baroni in the inaugural WBKFF event last November at the Casper Events Center in Wyoming.

Leben, a former UFC middleweight and longtime fan favorite for his brawler style, claims he entered into a written agreement to fight Baroni “in exchange for a payment of $100,000.00.” He was paid a down payment of $10,000, but is still owed $90,000 after repeated requests and demands, per the complaint.

WBKFF owner Tomasz Stankiewicz is also named a defendant in the suit which further alleges fraudulent deceit and claims Stankiewicz “never intended to compensate” Leben.

The inaugural WBKFF event appeared to be plagued with problems from the outset as detailed in a lengthy Facebook post by then-President Bas Rutten shortly after the event took place.

Former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman and Bellator MMA veteran Brennan Ward were each scheduled to appear on the card but backed out at the last minute due to contractual disputes with the promotion.

On the day of the event, Ward told Bloody Elbow’s Nick Baldwin he was originally supposed to make $250,000 to show and $250,000 to win, which was reduced to $75,000/$75,000 two weeks out from the event and subsequently reduced to $30,000 to show, and that is why he “wanted out" of the fight. He predicted to Baldwin, “I don’t think anybody’s gonna get f—king paid. I think these dudes are gonna f—king fight for free.”

In January, K2 Radio reported that the Casper Police Department had opened a criminal investigation after receiving complaints from three fighters and two businesses that they had allegedly not been paid.

“We're trying to determine if it was improper accounting, you know just they were expecting money and didn't get it, or if the whole thing was a sham,” detective Shannon Daley said at the time.

K2 Radio also reported that Stankiewicz was scheduled to be sentenced for wire fraud in Illinois following a 2018 guilty plea.

In a sentencing memorandum, the government stated that Stankiewicz participated in a mortgage fraud scheme that created losses of approximately $2.4 million. It also noted he “invested $100,000 in starting a business called the ‘World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation,’ which is incorporated in Wyoming. Defendant did not provide the Probation Office with any financial information from this business venture.”

Leben’s lawsuit may help explain why no WBKFF financial information was provided to the Probation Office. Stankiewicz was sentenced to one year in prison last week.

It is currently unknown if Leben was one of the three fighters who reached out to the police regarding alleged non-payment, but he appears to be the first fighter to sue WBKFF in court.

When reached for comment, Trieger said he was a “private contractor who handled publicity for that one show.”